Full rewire for 3 bed house + attic room

Hi all, I hope you can help us with a query around costs for a rewire for our 1940s home.

We have a normal sized 3 bed with an attic room and we have had a couple of quotes back from electricians to install a new fuse box and rewire the whole house.

Both quotes are based upon a new consumer unit, new/adiitional double sockets in all rooms, a single light fitting in all rooms, a new external light and power to the external garage with a small consumer unit in there. The kitchen has yet to be done up so we have said we will just have temporary external cabling on all sockets for now, and no other work done.

We are the NW and have had two quotes back that differ by about £900.

Both electricians we picked on MyBuilder.com and have good reviews.

Quote A was £3120 but £400 discount if we vacate the property (as it will take less time)

Quote B was £2295 which we find very low indeed. It's worth knowing that the guy who gave quote B knows that guy A has also been quoting and has commented that he often gets undercut by him.

I can imagine that guy B might want to make sure he gets the job but he has made no mention of us vacating and is asking £825 less! Guy B also gave us good advice regarding upcoming regulation of new fuse boxes. I did not meet him in person but OH got the impression that he knew his stuff. Guy A spent a lot more time here and was very charming and personable, but guy B has rewired another property on our estate, took a lot less time to quote and said he would firm up specifics later i.e. exact locations of sockets.

Does anyone have any experience of what a realistic price is for this type of work and should we be alarmed by the differences in price?

Both electricians must be members of a Competent Person scheme. NICEIC is one example. Ask them which one and verify them on the Scheme's website.

Preferably they should not just be Domestic Installers (which is the lower grade and somewhat looked down on) and they should have been in business for several years (you don't want a beginner learning the job on your house). Be very wary of somebody who says they will get the work inspected or "signed off" by someone else. Only a Building Control Officer is actually permitted to do that, and has to be notified before work starts. The competent person signing the form has to certify that they designed, installed and tested it (this may be three different people) so a "mate" can't truthfully sign.

We paid just under £5000 for 3 Bed full rewire inc garage but the property was stripped back to brick at the time and then re plastered throughout. New consumer box, wiring, all sockets (loads!) and wall switches, alarm, kitchen done, down lights throughout sorry Pigletjohn external lights and pendants, boiler and underfloor wired in, fans following PJ's advice thereWe're aren't in the south.

One guy might be VAT registered and the other isn't. This will generally increase the cost of work overall by about 10%.In our businesss Sometimes we are undercut considerably by other people and looking through our raw figures we think they must be:working for peanuts!or not declaring the income and paying no taxor not quoting for exactly the same job as us.

You could get more quotes. Definitely make sure they are members of a scheme . ELECSA is another.Make sure they are experienced, been trading for years, have Public liability insurance - as Piglet ohn says.